The Belmont Abbey men's basketball team scored the first 18 points of the game and never looked back as the Crusaders snapped a two-game Conference Carolinas losing streak with an 81-65 win over the visiting Pfeiffer Falcons this evening at the Wheeler Center. The Abbey moves to 9-4 overall and 2-3 in Conference Carolinas, while Pfeiffer drops to 2-9 overall and 1-4 in league play.

The Crusaders came out of the gate on fire, scoring the game's first 18 points as Pfeiffer committed five turnovers and missed its first five shots before a Matt Ellwood three-pointer with 14:29 to play in the half put the Falcons on the board.

While Pfeiffer's possessions were coming up empty, the Abbey converted eight of its first nine shots, including three three-pointers. The Abbey, which was never threatened after Pfeiffer began making its shots, saw its lead grow to as high as 21 points on a three-pointer by Jay Council with 1:50 to go. Pfeiffer scored the last five points of the half to cut the Abbey's lead to 41-25 at the half.

The Crusaders shot 44 percent in the first half as Council scored 16 of his 22 points in the first half, while Darryl Durham pulled down 12 rebounds in the first half alone. Durham finished the game with 17 rebounds and 12 points to record the double double.

Belmont Abbey maintained its double digit lead in the second half, as Pfeiffer never got any closer than 11 points. The Crusaders shot 40 percent in the second half and finished with a 42 percent effort for the game.

Tyshawn Good led all scorers with 23 points, while Council added 22. Durham netted 12 and Chris Davis posted ten.

Josh Humphrey led Pfeiffer with 21 points and Tayron Gibson added 18 as Pfeiffer shot 41 percent for the contest.